* President Obama notched the lowest approval ratings of his presidency in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, amid wide pessimism about the economy and deep frustration with Washington.

* Nearly six years after the government rescued Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, top members in the Senate and the White House agreed on a framework to wind down the mortgage giants and overhaul the nation's $10 trillion mortgage market.

* A senior Malaysia air force official rejected media reports that military radar had picked up signals from the jet over the Strait of Malacca, hundreds of miles from its intended course.

* Comcast Corp's proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc has sparked media-industry fears that the combined giant would have too much influence over everything from cable industry pricing to broadband-related services.

* General Motors Co's shares tumbled as the automaker faced new investigations on multiple fronts into why it took nearly a decade to recall cars with defects tied to 12 deaths.

* China's top central banker put the country on course to free up interest rates on bank deposits within two years, an unprecedented move that would force the nation's lenders to compete for customers by offering the best terms.

* Some property owners in Pennsylvania, a state caught up in a natural-gas drilling boom, are accusing Chesapeake Energy Corp of shortchanging them on royalty payments for pumping oil and gas from their land.

* Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc agreed to be bought by Men's Wearhouse Inc for roughly $1.8 billion, in an agreement that ends a colorful takeover battle between the rival suit retailers.

* Tesla Motors Inc will stop selling its luxury electric cars in New Jersey on April 1, after the state said Tuesday it would not license the company to sell vehicles directly to consumers, bypassing franchised dealers.

* Walt Disney Co is in talks to acquire popular online-video producer Maker Studios for about $500 million, said people with knowledge of the discussions, a deal that could give the entertainment giant better access to a young teen audience whose tastes are shifting to Web-based video.

* SoftBank Corp CEO Masayoshi Son characterized U.S. wireless service as dismal while reaffirming that his company wants a bigger part of the market.

* Amazon.com Inc is hoping to offer an on-demand music-streaming service to customers of its Amazon Prime program, but it may limit how much a person can listen to any given song, according to people familiar with the matter.

FT

Labour party leader Ed Miliband says he will not hold an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union in 2017 if his party comes to power and will focus on its economic agenda.

The British government has spent 63 million pounds buying up 106 homes blighted by the proposed HS2 high speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said he would overhaul the central bank's dealings with the City and would create a new deputy governor post to oversee markets and banking.

Shares of Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) plunged on Tuesday after Senate leaders released a bipartisan plan to unwind the U.S. mortgage finance companies, but did not appear to provide an outlet for investors to share in their profits.

Entertainment company Walt Disney is close to acquiring online video producer Maker Studios in a deal worth $500 million which could rise to as much as $900 million if certain financial conditions are met, according to people familiar with the situation.

NYT

* The Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into General Motors' decade-long failure to address deadly safety problems before announcing a huge vehicle recall last month, according to people briefed on the matter.

* Private equity firm Blackstone announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Accuvant, a 12-year-old company that offers cyber security software and consulting services to companies and governments.

* The Bitcoin Foundation announced on Tuesday that it had hired Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian research group the Cato Institute, as global policy counsel.

* Faced with strong demand from hedge funds and wealthy individuals, Puerto Rico sold 17 percent more debt on Tuesday than it had originally planned, a sign that the commonwealth still has ample access to the capital markets. Puerto Rico sold $3.5 billion of debt at an 8.72 percent yield.

* Anne Sweeney, the president of Walt Disney Co's Disney-ABC Television Group, said on Tuesday that she would step down as president of the company to become a TV director.

* Hedge fund manager William Ackman accused Herbalife , which sells vitamins, shakes and other supplements, of "operating illegally" in China. Ackman, the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, called the company's accounting of its Chinese business "highly misleading."

* Greek Yogurt maker Chobani is in talks with six potential investors for a deal that could value it at $5 billion, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions said Tuesday. The company is looking to finalize an investment in the first half of the year, with an eye toward expanding internationally.

* U.S. President Barack Obama this week will seek to force American businesses to pay more overtime to millions of workers, the latest move by his administration to confront corporations that have had soaring profits even as wages have stagnated.

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

* Olivia Chow, former councillor and wife of the late New Democrat leader Jack Layton, will jump into the Toronto mayoral race on Thursday. She will be the first serious left-wing candidate to challenge scandal-plagued Mayor Rob Ford.

* With two confirmed cases of measles in British Columbia's Fraser Valley and about 100 other suspected cases, provincial health officials are gearing up for another outbreak of the easily transmitted, highly contagious virus.

Reports in the business section:

* Ontario is calling for the creation of a new group to monitor how the South Korea trade deal affects the province's auto sector, amid concern that the pact will cause production cuts and job losses at Canadian factories.

NATIONAL POST

* The head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee accused the CIA on Tuesday of criminal activity in improperly searching a computer network set up for lawmakers investigating allegations that the agency used torture in terror investigations during the Bush administration.

* Ukraine's fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych called his country's new government a "band of ultra-nationalists" as he accused the "neo-fascists" of fomenting a civil war, and criticized the West for supporting it.

FINANCIAL POST

* Apple Inc has brought its iPhone trade-in program to retail stores in Canada, allowing users to sell older handsets back to the tech giant in exchange for credit toward a new model.

* Canada's main exchange TMX Group said on Tuesday that it wanted to focus on building and expanding business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region for the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and Montreal Exchange. The company plans to expand its international footprint with an office in Singapore later this year.

China

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- CITIC Bank will partner with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd to launch a "virtual" credit card for use in online purchases.

- The city of Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu province has launched new measures to control land and real estate prices, including a mechanism to adjust rules on a quarterly basis in line with price trends.

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

- Huang Guangyu, founder and former chairman of GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, who is now in prison, and his wife have reached an agreement with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to pay HK$420 million ($54 million) in compensation to the company.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

- Many companies have suspended applications for initial public offerings, as they are waiting for possible changes to IPO rules, especially for China's small-cap ChiNext board.

SECURITIES TIMES

- Annual growth in net profits in China's food industry dropped 11.6 percentage points to 13.6 percent in 2013 due to an slowdown in economic growth and increase in raw material costs, data from the National Development and Reform Commission showed.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD

The Shanghai Stock Exchange has submitted a plan to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to allow options trading on individual stocks, Gui Minjie, chairman of the exchange, told the paper. The plan is now awaiting CSRC approval.

PEOPLE'S DAILY

- China should ensure the judicial system's ability to enforce justice in order to safeguard social fairness and improve protection for the people, a commentary in the paper said.

Britain

The Telegraph

INTEREST RATES COULD RISE SIX-FOLD IN THREE YEARS

Interest rates will rise six-fold by 2017 as Britain's economy becomes one of the fastest growing in the developed world, the Bank of England governor said on Tuesday.

CO-OP OVERHAULS GOVERNANCE AFTER CHIEF QUITS

An overhaul of the Co-operative Group's controversial governance is set to be put to the vote after a dramatic 48-hours that culminated in the abrupt resignation of Chief Executive Officer Euan Sutherland.

AngioDynamics (ANGO) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond JamesBrandywine Realty (BDN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at BarclaysCalix (CALX) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at GoldmanEuronet (EEFT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at AvondaleGeneral Growth (GGP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at BarclaysHercules Technology (HTGC) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe BruyetteInfinera (INFN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at GoldmanMRC Global (MRC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at LongbowMcKesson (MCK) upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at GoldmanPharMerica (PMC) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit SuisseRite Aid (RAD) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at GoldmanSummit Midstream (SMLP) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW BairdVeriFone (PAY) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank

Downgrades

AIG (AIG) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche BankAmREIT (AMRE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at JefferiesAmerican Eagle (AEO) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan StanleyAmerisourceBergen (ABC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at GoldmanChurch & Dwight (CHD) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit SuisseClean Harbors (CLH) downgraded to Outperform from Top Pick at RBC CapitalDiamondRock (DRH) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/MerrillForest Labs (FRX) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper JaffrayHorizon Technology (HRZN) downgraded to Underperform at Keefe BruyetteLiberty Ventures (LVNTA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at CitigroupMotorola Solutions (MSI) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at GoldmanNorthwest Biotherapeutics (NWBO) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at OppenheimerPulteGroup (PHM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit SuisseSynta Pharmaceuticals (SNTA) downgraded to Sell from Hold at StifelSynta Pharmaceuticals (SNTA) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO CapitalToll Brothers (TOL) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit SuisseUrban Outfitters (URBN) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at BarclaysWilliam Lyon Homes (WLH) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse

Initiations

Cypress Energy (CELP) initiated with a Buy at Janney CapitalICG Group (ICGE) initiated with an Overweight at EvercoreIntersil (ISIL) assumed with an Overweight at Piper JaffrayInvenSense (INVN) assumed with an Overweight at Piper JaffraySilicon Laboratories (SLAB) assumed with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray

COMPANY NEWS

Energy XXI (EXXI) agreed to acquire all of EPL's (EPL) shares for $2.3BIATA cut its global airline profit forecast for 2014 to $18.7BOXiGENE (OXGN) reported positive top-line results from a Phase 2 trial of its Avastin with or without Zybrestat in patients with recurrent ovarian cancerMagnachip Semiconductor (MX) said it will restate prior results, withdrew prior Q4 guidance and naming Jonathan Kim as its Chief Accounting Officer. The company also said it concluded that one or more material weaknesses exist in the company's internal controls over financial reportingSeadrill Partners (SDLP) said it will acquire the entities that own and operate an ultra-deepwater drillship, the West Auriga, from Seadrill (SDRL)VimpelCom (VIP) said it is being investigated by SEC, Dutch authorities regarding Uzbekistan operationsBoeing (BA), SpiceJet announced order for 42 737 MAX 8s